A blog about old movies: classic film reviews and essays about actors and actresses. Download free fonts based on Classic Hollywood.

Oct 6, 2012

"Arsenic and Old Lace" on the big screen

Hi guys, how have you been? I haven't written in a while, 69 days to be exact, and that's because I haven't seen many old movies lately. My passion for movies declined as the love for my boyfriend/best friend dramatically increased (see chart). Seems I can't split my heart and it chose him.

In other news, I'm cheesy and I don't care.

Well, Diego and I went to see Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). The university where I studied is running an American Comedy film festival and yesterday was the turn of this Frank Capra movie. I had seen it some years ago, but I didn't remember the ending.

It was a great experience. There were like 20 people besides us (which is a good number since it started at four pm) and lots of laughs. Cary Grant marries and the same day he finds out his whole family is crazy: his aunts love helping old, lonely men in a very peculiar way.

The movie is atypical: it's a comedy with very creepy situations, filmed like a play (almost one setting with few exterior shots). Cary exaggerated his acting, choosing the hyperventilation to play his character and looking to the camera occasionally, but I don't mind. I found him hilarious.

All the secondary players are pretty awesome, especially Peter Lorre, with his soft voice and effective self-control. The weakest of the group, in my opinion, was Priscilla Lane, a bit bland and dull.

The script, written by the Epstein brothers and based on a play, contains a lot of great lines which you probably know by heart, like:

Mortimer Brewster: Look I probably should have told you this before but you see... well... insanity runs in my family... It practically gallops.

Well, that's all for now. Even when I'm not writing as much as I did before, I've been re-watching I love Lucy, this time with my parents. I'll tell you about it someday, but they used to think it was a boring series and now they can't wait to see a new episode. I created two new fans and that makes me happy.

I'm another one who wants to know if you were the one that made your boyfriend a classic movie convert! :)How cool! I watched Monkey Business, also with Cary Grant, in a big screen and the audience only helped to add more fun to the experience.Oh, have you already signed up for the A Letter to the Stars blogathon? There is more information about it in this post: http://www.criticaretro.blogspot.com.br/2012/10/ha-coisas-que-merecem-ser-divulgadas.htmlKisses!

Clara, we're so happy to hear about YOUR happiness! We hope you and your sweetie will be happily in love with each other and with classic movies forevermore! ARSENIC AND OLD LACE is one of Team Bartilucci's favorites, even if Boris Karloff was unable to reprise his Broadway role! :-)

Hi Clara, how are you? It's good that you write again. I've seen this movie, but in spanish, and even when It was good, I Think that I would prefer see it in english, with subtitles. But I really enjoyed it. I love watching classic movies in big screen, and the people that goes to watch it, it's older, about 60 I think.Saludos!!!

@Caftan Woman: He is a movie, series and literature fan, he loves the screenwriting process and how authors create characters, worlds and rules, etc. He didn't watch a lot of old movies before, but he doesn't have prejudices or anything. And yes, "Arsenic and Old Lace" is really fun to watch with other people :) Thank you very much for stopping by!

@Lê: Classic movie convert not yet :) But I recommended some old films like "The Thin Man" and "The Apartment" and he liked them. It's awesome to watch these films with other people, especially when they're older. I'll check the blogathon if it hasn't started yet, but I'm with no time for writing a lot right now. I'll let you know, thanks for the invite!

@DorianTB: You're always so sweet my friend, thank you :) I didn't know that Boris actually played that part on Broadway, that's awesome. Thanks a bunch for your comment!

@Jennifer: Thank you girl, you're very very kind! You should try to assist to one of those classic movie screenings, it's a great experience :) Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it.

@Pilar: Hey there, yeah, I personally can't watch dubbed movies, they lose a lot in the translation (except if I saw them in Spanish as a child, like "The Sound of Music" or "Gone with the wind"). Hope you can watch "Arsenic and Old Lace" in English and I hope you see a classic on the big screen, it's a lot of fun :) Gracias por visitarme!

"Clara over at Via Margutta has such an amazing blog. It's got a great design and she always has interesting and creative posts, for example this Gift guide for Classic Movie Fans or fun games like When I Say You Say. I don't comment nearly as much as should—that should change! Check her out, you won't be sorry!"